Books in the Continuum Studies in British Philosophy series

Takes issue with the near-universal tendency of Hobbes scholars to emphasize the influence of Hobbes's natural philosophy on his political philosophy. This book shows how Hobbes's political ideas influence his natural philosophy.

Thomas Reid (1710-96) was one of the most daring and original thinkers of the eighteenth century. His work became the cornerstone of the Scottish School of Common Sense Philosophy. This book begins by characterizing the state of moral epistemology at the time when Reid was writing. It offers an assessment of the success of Reid's ethical project.

Ludwig Wittgenstein's later philosophy comes alive when it is used as a vehicle for philosophical discovery, rather than when it is interpreted as a system of propositions. This volume offers a study of Wittgenstein's later work on the philosophy of psychology, his cryptic remarks on visual meaning and the analysis of the concept of perception.

A development in Wittgenstein Studies has been the advancement of a therapeutic reading of the Tractatus. This book offers an extended application of this reading of Wittgenstein, encompassing Wittgenstein's later work too, to examine the implications of Wittgenstein's work as a whole upon the domains of literature, psychopathology, and time.

Tackles some of the problems in Berkeley's philosophy by providing a fresh interpretation of Berkeley's core ontological doctrines and their relationship to his views about self-consciousness. This work examines that Berkeley is led to adopt a model of self-consciousness because he rejects basic metaphysics of many of his predecessors.

Argues that Wittgenstein, though himself often silent on particular ethical matters, gives us immense resources for understanding the aims appropriate to any philosophical ethics. This work re-examines some of the landmarks in the history of moral philosophy in order to cast contemporary ethical philosophy in a fresh light.

In 1911, Bertrand Russell began a historically formative interchange about the nature of logic and cognition with his student, Ludwig Wittgenstein. This work presents a treatment of Russell's decisive 1913 exchanges with Wittgenstein. It also incorporates little-known notes and diagrams into a different analysis of the problems Russell was facing.

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) is remembered only as an alleged 'Social Darwinist' who applied the theory of the survival of the fittest to society. This book provides the modern survey of the corpus of Spencer's thought. It introduces a Spencer very different to his posthumous reputation.

Offers an original reading of Ludwig Wittgenstein's views on such topics as radical scepticism, the first- and third-person asymmetry of mental talk, Cartesianism, and rule-following.

Examines Russell's work, particularly from 1900 to 1950, and exposes a repeated emphasis on, and turn to, linguistic considerations. This book considers how 'linguistics' and 'philosophy' were struggling in the twentieth century to define themselves and to create appropriate contemporary disciplines.

Shows how Wittgenstein's philosophy of language points towards a different philosophy of life, thereby making a contribution to ethical and political thought. Tracing the development of Wittgenstein's work from 1914 to 1951, this book explores the notion of 'form' in the Tractatus.

Offers an appreciation of Iris Murdoch's philosophy, focusing the importance of images and the imagination for her thought. This book examines how literature and imagination enabled Murdoch to form a philosophical response to the decline of religion. It also reconsiders various contemporary assumptions about what philosophy is and does.

David Hume, one of the most influential philosophers to have written in the English language, is widely known as a skeptic and an empiricist. This book studies Hume's philosophy of religion, a topic central to his whole philosophical project.